There were over 132,000 divorces in 2011 with only 277,000 marriages.
The rate of divorce is ever increasing and there are many singles now living life solo.
It doesn't have to be all doom and gloom though.
Some of the greatest times of my life have been while on a solo holiday.
With no one else to think about, no one else's opinions to consider the freedom on holiday as a solo traveler is fabulous.
And just because you're emotionally on your own doesn't mean you have to physically alone while travelling.
I took an African safari last year, something my husband and I had planned to do together but for obvious reasons it never happened.
Now in my fifties with money in the bank and long service leave to hand I decided to take the dream safari.
I travelled with a tour operator offering small group adventures complete with personal Group Leader who was a trained naturalist and South African.
My trip took me to the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
The trip lasted 17 days in which I took game drives through Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Reserve and floated down the Okavango in a dugout canoe, known locally as a mokoro.
This was perhaps the highlight for me as we were poled through the narrow channels, we saw elephants drinking from the delta, birds of every specie and hippos on the banks.
Our guide was sure to only travel through shallow water though to ensure any encounters with hippos under the water were avoided.
The Moremi Game Reserve is home to giraffe, kudo, elephant, hippos, crocodiles, lions and leopards to name a few and we saw them all.
At first I was nervous about travelling with the group as it was made up of couples and friends, and only one other solo passenger.
However, the sight of our first giraffe peeking through the bushes and the first croc poking his eyes just above the surface of the river was enough to bring us all together.
You require patience on safari as the game is of course always on the move.
The requirement for sitting quietly waiting for our guide to spot fresh tracks and dung gave us all a lot of time to get to know each other and unsurprisingly we all had similar interests.
The group were incredibly supportive of my solo holiday too and were amazed I had had the bottle to go through with it.
My only slight negative about the whole trip was when we saw our first pride of lions.
The others in the group all had someone close to them to share the experience and although they included me in their joy I did suffer a slight pang of regret that my ex had missed it.
Away from the misery of my private life thought the African safari I had always dreamt of was exactly that; a dream.
It flew by and upon returning home I felt I had dreamt about Africa with only my photos confirming the truth.
Botswana as a destination for a first time safari is not the usual choice but I would recommend it to all.
The contrast of the Makgadikgadi Plains with the journey down the delta and then into Chobe National Park gives you a wonderfully varied view of all Africa has to offer.
We drive for 3 and a half hours across the plains which is the result of the evaporation of a large lake.
We saw little mirages in the distance and miles and miles of barren land but the jeep drive was brilliant.
We were also lucky enough to see quite a few pink flamingos at the soda lakes, although not as many as you see on TV.
Bar far Botswana was my favourite holiday of my lifetime and I urge you to take the plunge now, regardless of your marital status!